Cave wants lane for mate

Cameron Houston

Australian music legend Nick Cave is calling for a laneway to be renamed in honour of his friend and former bandmate in the Birthday Party, Rowland S. Howard.

While touring St Kilda in Melbourne last week, Cave urged Port Phillip Council to consider a petition to name a small laneway after the legendary guitarist, who died from liver cancer in 2009.

''Rowland and I were friends, bandmates, collaborators and fellow conspirators in the St Kilda music scene in the late '70s and early '80s. His artistic legacy endures, and I hope that you can honour him with the cultural recognition he richly deserves,'' Cave said in a letter obtained by Fairfax Media.

Cave said he had contacted the estate of Howard, who supported the plan along with thousands of local and international music fans.

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The pair launched their post-punk movement at St Kilda's former Crystal Ballroom in the late '70s.